


we should be lovers instead

by thatchoiboy



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: 3+1 Things, 5+1 Things, Awkward Mark Lee (NCT), Basketball Player Mark Lee (NCT), Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan is Whipped, Light Angst, M/M, Nerd Mark Lee (NCT), Noren, and mentions of sex but there is no sexual content, awkward hyuck, but it's actually, cursing, except maybe kissing, hyuck gay panics a lot, jaemin is a single pringle and renjun is tired of dealing w hyuck’s shit, jaemin is tired and full of caffeine, kind of, mark is cute and oblivious (is he rlly? winks), markhyuck, read as hyuck gets confused over and over, sicheng is mentioned once if u squint, soft markhyuck, tiktok au, why is hyuck so confused just admit u like mark and GO
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:15:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28451514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatchoiboy/pseuds/thatchoiboy
Summary: Donghyuck gapes, his jaw dropped to the floor and stares at Renjun through his lashes, “And what’s the best case scenario?”“That would be if he doesn’t realize it was a confession because he’s either a dense fucker or because he doesn’t know tiktok trends which leads him to confusion and conclude that you were either drunk or high instead.” Renjun says after giving it a thought, “Knowing Mark, it’s probably both so I think you’re good.”(Or 3 times Donghyuck tried a tiktok trend on Mark plus the 1 time Mark tried one on him)
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Comments: 8
Kudos: 144





	we should be lovers instead

**Author's Note:**

> alternative summary: Donghyuck tries the tiktok trend ‘I wanna ruin our friendship’ to confess to his best friend, Mark.
> 
> disclaimer: i do not own any of the nct members and this is a work of fiction
> 
> hi everyone! this my first NCT fic despite being in the fandom for a long time :')
> 
> ANYWAY, i really wanted someone to write a markhyuck au about that tiktok trend using the jenny (i wanna ruin our friendship) song because it fits them so well?? not just me right?? and so i waited but then i decided to take matters into my own hands (pls its 3 am and i have a headache)  
> kinda cliché friends to lovers but who doesn't like cliché??? ;)
> 
> i hope u enjoy this trainwreck bc i sure had fun writing it hehe (´ ∀ ` *)

_1  
  
_Donghyuck thinks he has an addiction. A tiktok addiction. In which he would never admit out loud though. _  
_

He rues the day he found out about the evil app that now prevents him from doing anything productive besides dancing to random tiktok songs or telling his friends memes that they don’t understand.

Or maybe he was just jealous of the couples he sees and wants what they have.

Donghyuck found some interesting couple things on tiktok, he’s not sure if it was real or not but he thought they were pretty cute anyway. He wished he had a boyfriend to try it out on. Or maybe his friends as a joke. Or maybe Mark.

Preferably Mark Lee, his best friend who he is in love with since high school. Donghyuck never got the guts to confess though, as bold as he is normally.

“Hey Renjun, you think I should do this Mark?” Donghyuck asks, he doesn't get a response, but he shrugs it off and decides he’s going to do it with or without Renjun’s advice.

His stats homework lay unfinished as he scrolled through his for you page and broke out in laughter from time to time, ignoring his roommate’s judgemental stare. At some point he threw all his remaining fucks away and started jamming to the songs and even started learning new dances.

“Stop throwing it back you flat ass.” Donghyuck finally hears Renjun sneer from the other side of the room, glancing briefly at him dancing to the song ‘Savage’ before going back to his phone, probably texting with his boyfriend.

Donghyuck scoffed before grabbing anything near him, which was a pillow, and threw it at the knowing Renjun who caught it and stuck his tongue out.

“Just admit you’re jealous of my ass.” He teased the older boy and exited his source of addiction, debating whether to actually do his work or not.

Renjun just rolled his eyes at him before getting up from his position and heading towards the door, not before turning back at Donghyuck saying, “At least this flatass has a boyfriend.” And then slamming the door shut behind him.

He didn’t hear Donghyuck’s strangled scream.

* * *

“Renjun was being mean to me.” Donghyuck whined as he entered the love of his life’s (Mark doesn’t know that though) dorm room, flopping like a dead fish besides Mark who was wearing glasses and absolutely looks beautiful in it while doing his homework because he’s such a good student and Donghyuck is so _whipped_.  
  
“What’d you do this time?” Mark gives him a small smile, continuing to type away to finish his essay. Donghyuck almost blushed on the fact how the former is so used to his antics.

“I was just dancing to tiktok songs and he attacked me with the _‘I have a boyfriend and you don’t’_ after I said he was just jealous of my ass. The nerve!” He sulks, he knows that Renjun didn’t mean anything by the comment but he needs to stop rubbing it in Donghyuck's face that he is still in fact s-i-n-g-l-e.  
  
Mark stops typing and looks at him, catching Donghyuck off-guard.

“We really need to talk about your tiktok addiction.”

Donghyuck groans and buries his face on the pillow, wriggling his legs like a brat. “For the last time, I do _not_ have an addiction.” He knows he’s lying, he already admitted it himself but it just sounds more of a serious issue when other people say it.

“If you say so.” Mark says in a playful manner, lifting and eyebrow and the corner of his lip tugging up into a slight smirk. Donghyuck was just about to let Mark peacefully do his homework, but being the annoying shit he is, decided it was the perfect opportunity to try out the trend he saw on tiktok. 

“I feel like you haven’t been very nice to me lately.” Donghyuck pouts, side-eyeing Mark to see how he reacts. His heart almost jumped out of his chest when Mark immediately stopped typing and moved his laptop on the other side of the bed, the concerned look he’s wearing while looking at him made feel warm.

“What do you mean? Is it because I said you had a tiktok addiction?” Mark asked, taking Donghyuck’s hands and Donghyuck tries to calm his breathing because Mark is so unreal and why is he the sweetest person he has ever met.

“I-I just felt like you could’ve been nicer to me today.” Donghyuck stuttered. He wished he had the courage to just kiss Mark because he’s so frustrating and cute and sweet and he makes Donghyuck feel so nice.  
  
“We can hang out sometime tomorrow? It’s been awhile.” Mark offers and Donghyuck just mutters a ‘that’ll be nice’ and shies away from Mark’s gaze, hoping the other doesn’t notice his cheeks that are really getting warmer.

“By the way, my game’s tomorrow night if you wanna go? We can hang out after that.”

“Of course!” Donghyuck flushes as he realizes how embarrassingly fast he answered.

“I mean…sure, that’s what best friends are for, right?” He cringes at himself because he definitely does not think of Mark as a _friend_.

“Yeah...best friends.”

_2_

Because Renjun was the bestest roommate Donghyuck could ever have, the former had grabbed him some food and threw it at him when he got home.

“You’re the best! I was starving.” Donghyuck exclaimed with glee, munching on the burger as if he hasn’t eaten in a week. 

“I swear we barely started college and you’re already forgetting to act like a human being that needs food and sleep to function properly.” Renjun nags while grabbing a water bottle in the fridge. 

Donghyuck turned his head away from Renjun, as if pretending not to hear his words wouldn’t affect him in any way.

“Jeno told me you went to his and Mark’s dorm.” Renjun said as he settled beside Donghyuck, who is eating the remainder of his fries.  
  
“Well, that’s old news. I’m always there. He’s my best friend.” Donghyuck replied, giving Renjun a ‘duh’ face.

“Best friend that you’re _in love_ with.” His devil-spawn of a roommate corrected, yelping when Donghyuck nudged him with his foot.

“You’re too loud!” Donghyuck hissed, looking around cautiously as if Mark was within the parameter (He’s not).

Renjun scoffed and nudged Donghyuck back, causing the latter to choke on his soda. “What were you telling me this morning? Something about Mark?”

Donghyuck should give him a round of applause for caring but it was never a good idea to test Renjun’s patience. “Ah, that. I was planning to try those couple tiktok trends on him- err, well, I already tried one..”

“Seriously?” Renjun said, he never fails to look at Donghyuck as if everything that comes out of his mouth is stupid. “Is that your idea of confessing? Because I doubt it’s going to work.”

“Uh, no- well, _maybe_ , I just want to see how it goes.” Donghyuck replies in between coughs, kind of regretting telling Renjun now that the older is going to be a bitch about it. “Besides, I think I’ll continue loving him from afar.”

“You’re being so dramatic. Just tell him how you feel.” Donghyuck looked at him with narrowed eyes after getting his breath back. _Fucking bastard_

“Says the one who thirsted over Jeno for months before he asked you out.”

“Well-”

“Not mentioning the fact that it took Jaemin pretending to ask out Jeno for you to crack and almost slapped poor Jaemin to, and I quote, _‘back off my man’_ ”

When Donghyuck saw how red Renjun was, he wished he kept his mouth shut.

* * *

Mark’s game night came faster than Donghyuck expected. If you asked, he definitely was not counting the hours off.

And as a very supportive _friend_ , Donghyuck came prepared with a megaphone and a large GO MARK LEE banner because he was just that amazing _friend_ Mark could ever have.

It is Renjun who he sees when he arrives at the gym, already there to make out with his boyfriend, Jeno, who just happens to be a basketball player like Mark. Donghyuck hated the fact that Renjun and Jeno are exactly the type of couples he sees (and envies) on tiktok. Being in the same friend group meant seeing them always being lovey-dovey and always in their own little bubble every single day. Just like what he’s witnessing at the moment.

 _Gross._ Donghyuck thinks, aggressively sitting down in between the couple, forcing Jeno to kiss Renjun one last time before heading over to the court with the rest of the team, not before acknowledging Donghyuck and sending Renjun a wink (whom then giggled and absolutely scaring the shit out of Donghyuck because Renjun _never_ giggles)

He hates that he wants what they have.

“You’re radiating bitterness.” Was the first thing Renjun said to him and he huffs in response, shoulders sagging as he lightly pouts, looking over at the court and seeing Mark intently listening to their coach.

“And you’re radiating after-glow sex. Turn it down please.” Donghyuck snarked back, leaving Renjun spluttering in embarrassment.

“First of all- no _,_ we... haven’t done _it_ yet.” His roommate whispers, a flustered Renjun almost made him feel better over the fact that he’s single. Almost.

Donghyuck just adjusted himself on his seat, placing the megaphone on the empty spot beside him and folding the banner neatly. Too deep in thought about not having a boyfriend. Or specifically why Mark isn’t his boyfriend. The world was really unfair.

“Oh my god you’re not teasing me. Who are you and what have you done to my Donghyuck?!” Renjun exclaimed, garnering the attention of the other people near them. Donghyuck put a palm over Renjun’s mouth, smiling apologetically to those who have been disrupted by his roommate’s loud mouth.

“Calm your tits down. I swear I’ll tell you later but- oh, the game’s starting.” Donghyuck said, mustering a sheepish look at a glaring Renjun. But before he could reply, a whistle caught their attention, just in time Jaemin sat besides Renjun.

“Oh great, I didn’t miss it this time!” Jaemin hollered. Donghyuck feels sorry for his friend having tough professors, the type who assigns too much homework and essays and projects to the point that they rarely see the guy anymore, always cooped up in his room and inhaling coffee.

“Glad you could make it Jaem. I’m sure Jeno and Mark appreciate it” Renjun said, putting an arm around Jaemin's shoulder, only removing it when Donghyuck screeches at them to help hold his large banner. Renjun reminds him that he was there to support Jeno not Mark but Donghyuck reminds him he doesn’t care.

The game starts and Donghyuck doesn’t really understand anything. Neither does Renjun. And neither does Jaemin.

One would think being friends with jocks would make them understand the sport but they confirmed that it isn’t true. He contemplated pulling out his phone to watch tiktok instead but decided against it and allowed his eyes to fall on Mark.

Donghyuck hears Renjun’s remarks about Jeno to Jaemin who looked too zoned out and should probably go back to his dorm and sleep. But all he could focus on was Mark. The way he was dribbling the ball with his hand that Donghyuck absolutely would love to hold and his yelling reminds Donghyuck when they would argue about the stupidest things, and not forgetting to mention the way he’s lifting off his jersey to wipe his sweat was too attractive he swore he could faint right then and there. Was it just him or Mark was literally shining?

Of course Renjun just had to ruin the moment by nudging him with his elbow and talking about how amazing and cool Jeno was.

Donghyuck occasionally brings the megaphone up to his mouth and yell incoherent noises whenever Mark gets the ball in. Never minding the people who probably thought he was crazy.

_Crazy for Mark, maybe._

He’s not even sure when the game ends but he finds himself jumping up and down when he heard the buzzer and saw their basketball team cheering and lifting their captain, which he knew was Sicheng, up and down. 

“Did we- did we win?” Renjun whispers to him when he sits back down. 

“Yeah I think so.” He whispers back and that was enough for Renjun to practically leap out of his seat and run towards Jeno to congratulate him. He looks over to Jaemin to find the poor guy asleep with his mouth slightly open. And being the good friend he is, decided to let him sleep and laid the large banner to cover his body as he left to approach Mark, who was looking over the stadium as if he was waiting for someone.

If Donghyuck saw the way Mark’s eyes sparkled when he spotted him, he was probably dreaming. He let out a cheeky grin and playfully pushed Mark back, the other stumbling a little.

“Congrats on winning you doof head.” He says, his hands fumble behind his back, finding the spot on Mark’s ear very interesting as he avoids eye contact. “You did great out there.”

“You had no idea what was happening didn’t you?”

“Absolutely no clue.”

Mark laughs. Not a ‘cool guy’ laugh, but that kind of laugh where he inhales too much air and lets his head fall back as he cackles out loud. “Thanks for coming though and uh, maybe tone it down with the banner.” What a dork. A cute one though.

“Never.” Donghyuck shakes his head in disbelief. Of course he would come. Mark could tell him to go to space and he would. “Don’t forget about today, pick me up at 8. If you’re late you owe me ice cream.”

All Mark did was smile at him but it was enough to make his heart beat fast.  
  


* * *

“You know, it wouldn’t hurt to finally tell Mark you like him.” Jeno says after the game, that time of the week where he barges into his and Renjun’s dorm to hang out with Renjun and make him feel like a pathetic third wheel.

Donghyuck ignores him as he scrolls through tiktok, not finding it in him to laugh or dance to new songs. “You know, it wouldn’t hurt to leave me alone.” He retorts after a long silence. “And stop telling Jeno everything I say to you Renjun!”

“There he goes again! He’s been so mopey.” Renjun tells Jeno as they cuddle closer. “And I didn’t tell Jeno shit, you’re just that obvious.”

 _Right in front of my salad?_ Donghyuck thinks. He hates his friends. “Whatever. I’m fine, thank you very much.” 

“No, you’re not- and don’t even think about arguing with me right now.” Donghyuck immediately shut his mouth, a stern Renjun was a scary Renjun, with or without his boyfriend. 

“Look, why can’t you guys just bother Jaemin? He’s single too!” He whines, getting up from his spot to once again, aggressively shit in between the couple.

“Have you seen Jaemin? No offense to him but he looks like a trainwreck, I wouldn’t want to bother the poor guy.” Jeno snorts. All Donghyuck is getting from this conversation is the favoritism towards Jaemin.

“And not forgetting the fact that you’re so painfully obviously in love with Mark. I swear anyone could see you literally ogle at him with heart eyes.” 

“I am once again asking for you _to mind your own business._ ” Donghyuck says and rolls his eyes when they just stare at him cluelessly. “It’s a meme but forget it you guys wouldn’t understand.” 

Donghyuck moved to the bathroom to get changed, he and Mark were going out after all. He stressed about what clothes to wear and suddenly every single piece of clothing he had was ugly in his eyes.

A faint sound of knocking and the murmuring outside forced Donghyuck to just put on the nearest thing which was a light blue hoodie and made his way to the front door, where Renjun and Jeno were cornering Mark, who was a tad early because he’s that much of a gentleman and brought flowers too.  
  
He coughed to get their attention and he swore he could see the smirking couple as they held their hands up in defense and left him and Mark alone and Donghyuck was ready to combust.  
  
Mark Lee, his best friend, just had to wear the typical black leather jacket they see in cliche rom com movies and he even got him his favorite flowers, hibiscus syriacus. Donghyuck couldn’t believe it, the nerd actually remembered. If he didn’t know that this was just a hang out, it feels like he was actually going on a date. With Mark.  
  
“What’s with the flowers?” He asks, proud of himself for not stuttering this time. And it’s nice to see Mark the one all flustered, since he’s usually on that end whenever they have a conversation these past couple days.

“I- uh, just thought… you’d like them.” Donghyuck pretends not to hear Renjun and Jeno practically giggling behind him as Mark shyly hands it to him, his other hand going up to rest behind his nape. 

“Oh uh, I love them. Thanks, really. Here let me just- Renjun!” Donghyuck reached up to get them from Mark and handed them to Renjun who gave them a knowing look.

“Let’s go?” Mark didn’t have to ask Donghyuck twice for him to push them out the door before he dies out of embarrassment courtesy of the evil creatures he calls his friends.

  
Mark takes them to a chicken restaurant and orders a spicy stir fried chicken. His favorite. Donghyuck is starting to get suspicious because Mark was being too nice and how the fuck is he even functioning normally right now. 

“I’m sorry about Renjun and Jeno. You know... they’re _Renjun and Jeno_ .” Donghyuck says, making a face and effectively breaking the silence after taking a sip of his water. “We’re good...right?”

Mark just let out a chuckle and nodded, playing around with his straw. “Of course. Don’t worry about it.”

They talked. Talked about things that happened within the week, about Renjun oftenly kicking Donghyuck out of their dorm when Jeno is over, about stupid professors that gave too much assignments, about poor Jaemin who they barely hang out with, and random things that start to come to mind. Talking to Mark always feels like a safe haven to Donghyuck. 

Their orders arrived, not feeling hunger until they caught a whiff of the food that Donghyuck’s stomach grumbled. “This is so good!” Donghyuck says after taking a bite of the chicken, Mark humming in agreement. “It’s been awhile since I’ve had this. I swear if it wasn’t for Renjun, I would die of ramen overdosed, er, if that’s a thing.” 

Mark just snorted and shook his head. “Well, according to what I read on google, it would take around 47 teaspoons of salt to kill you and that is around 63 packs of ramen in one sitting.” 

Donghyuck stares at Mark in disbelief because he definitely was not expecting that. “Wow, I forget how much of a nerd you are.” He laughs when Mark tries to protest. “It’s okay, I think it’s cute.” Donghyuck slips out, eyes widening before laughing nervously and eyes darting in different directions.

“I-I mean, the thing you just said is cute. Haha, what a cute fact, am I right?” Donghyuck says and proceeded to take gulps of his water, mentally thanking Mark for ignoring such a stupid comment with a cough.

As they eat, Donghyuck suddenly remembers one of the tiktok trends where the girl steals their boyfriend’s food. He thinks back to what Renjun said and in the back of his mind, he agrees that he’s stupid for this but then again, when was he never stupid? He reminds himself to no longer seek advice from Renjun.

So he tried it, taking the opportunity when Mark dropped his napkin and slowly stole one of his chicken. He doesn’t stop when Mark looks back up, even taking one and shoving it in his mouth. He watches as Mark doesn’t say anything and takes a piece of his chicken and wraps it in a perilla leaf, and Donghyuck was definitely not expecting for Mark to put it near his lips, looking at him as if his eyes are telling Donghyuck to eat it.

Donghyuck opens his mouth and Mark slips the wrap inside and just smiles at him as he chews. He mumbles a small ‘thank you’ and feels his cheeks go warm. He hates that Mark can easily make him flustered and he’s so confused by the way Mark acts around him and how he’s been the sweetest and caring because they’re just best friends.

Right?

_3_

It was the last week before the end of the semester which meant that it was finals week. That time of the semester where everyone either party all night or stay inside their dorms studying and being friends with nerds (Mark), Donghyuck was the latter. And he’s absolutely dreading it. 

He slams his head softly on the table with his stats and chemistry notes open, the two subjects he hates the most. Mark sits across from him, having been kicked out by Jeno this time so he and Renjun could ‘study’ in his and Mark’s dorm. If you ask Donghyuck, it’s probably because Renjun is tired of hearing him complain about getting kicked out.

Being the good student he is, Mark is typing away and making study guides for his exams, something that Donghyuck should probably do. But it’s hard to focus when your crush is literally right in front of you and Donghyuck wants to kiss him so bad.

“What?”

 _Shit. Did I say that out loud?_

Donghyuck looks up to meet Mark’s eyes and tilts his head to the side. “What?” Maybe if he acts confused Mark would forget about it.

“Did you say something? I didn’t catch that.” _Nice._

“Just grumbling about stats. Standard deviation is starting to get confusing the more I look at this chart thing or whatever it’s called.” Donghyuck was technically telling the truth, minus the part where he almost told Mark he wanted to kiss him.

“Oh I could help you with that if you want, I’m almost done with mine.” Mark offered, and who was Donghyuck to decline?

“I’d like that.”

* * *

“You look like shit.” Is what Renjun tells him when he comes back from Mark and Jeno’s dorm, Mark being long gone as he and Donghyuck wrapped up studying for the night. “Did something happen?”

“Besides Mark helping me study, I almost told him I wanted to kiss him.” Donghyuck groans, curling into his bed further.

Renjun let out an amused sound as he moved to the bathroom to get dressed for bed, slipping under his covers and seeing how happy his roommate looked, it's best to say that something more than ‘studying’ most definitely happened when he and Jeno were alone.

“I wish you did, so you wouldn’t be such a sad lump right now.” Renjun says and Donghyuck wanted to throw a pillow at him if he wasn’t so tired.

“Glad to see you’re still such an asshole even after Jeno probably fucked your brains out.” He mumbles and sometimes he wished he didn’t have such a loud mouth.

“Donghyuck?” He hears Renjun and he hums in acknowledgement, too scared to verbally answer. “Sleep with one eye open.”

This is it. He swears Renjun is actually going to kill him this time. But he decided to face it like a man and mentally sent apologies to his other friends and family. At least this way, he doesn’t have to worry about confessing to Mark anymore, maybe it’s future Donghyuck’s problem in his next life.

But Donghyuck thinks he’s survived the night. Renjun was too tired to actually do anything because a few minutes later he heard a soft snore. (But the fact that Renjun didn’t deny being fucked by Jeno still remains and he’s so telling Mark about it) He questions if having Renjun as his roommate is a blessing or a curse.

Falling asleep at night is not always an easy task for a tired Donghyuck (and it’s definitely not because of Renjun’s threat). His mind wandered to a lot of things, especially random things. The only sound he heard were his roommates' soft snores and the ringing sound whenever it was too quiet. 

He ended up checking his phone and opening tiktok, immediately seeing another couple trying out a trend where a song is used to confess to their best friend. Huh. What a coincidence. Either tiktok is cursed or the algorithm was just spot on. Donghyuck hopes it’s the latter. The song sounded really good. Maybe he could use this on Mark or something. Testing the waters. Just like what he’s been doing in their previous encounters. 

Donghyuck thinks of Mark and his cute smile and cute face and the way he treats Donghyuck so good. He has so many feelings for him that he thinks one day he’s just going to kiss Mark out of nowhere. Mark’s actions weren’t unknown, Donghyuck always knew how much of a gentleman Mark was ever since they first met. He couldn’t risk thinking that there’s something _more_ when it’s only going to hurt him in the end.

Donghyuck is scared and confused. So, _so_ confused. He’s scared that the moment he tells Mark he likes him, it would ruin their friendship. And Donghyuck doesn’t like the sound of that. And he’s confused to the point he doesn’t even know what he’s confused about and everything in his mind is in shambles.

But on the other side, he thinks it doesn’t hurt to try.

* * *

Donghyuck yawns and rolls over his bed to get up, already smelling Renjun’s leftover coffee and hoping he left some for him. Donghyuck trudged towards the small kitchen and frowns, the coffee pot was empty. He sighs and decides to just buy one on the way to class, thanking the lord that his exam isn’t till the afternoon so he has time to mentally prepare himself for what he’s about to do.

Wasting no more time, he pulled out his phone and tapped on his messages with Mark but not before memorizing the lyrics of the song he’s about to use. He kind of planned out everything last night and just hadn’t expected Mark to reply so quickly.

**  
donghyuck**

mark, darling, you're my best friend

**mark**

oh hey hyuck and 

d-darling?

**donghyuck**

but there's a few things that you don't know of

**mark**

what is it??  
  


**donghyuck**

why i borrow your lipstick so often

**mark**

my lipstick? huh?  
****

**donghyuck**

i’m using your shirt as a pillow case

**mark**

wdym  
****

**donghyuck**

i wanna ruin our friendship

**mark**

what are u trying to say

**  
donghyuck**

we should be lovers instead

**mark**

oh

**donghyuck**

i don't know how to say this

cause you're really my dearest friend

  
  


Donghyuck threw his phone away, for once not minding if Jaemin comes in and kills him for leaving him sleeping in the gym covered with his large GO MARK LEE banner during the basketball game that one time.

* * *

The next time Renjun sees him he is fiddling with his hands, the older boy throwing him a curious look. “What’s wrong?” If he wasn’t so nervous over the fact that he just did the stupidest idea ever, maybe he’ll be flattered by Renjun’s concern.

“Uhm, I think I failed my stats final.” Donghyuck starts off, “and I may or may not have indirectly confessed to Mark.” He continues, just staring at the phone that lies on the other side of the room. He’s not sure if it’s broken or not but he’s too scared to check.

Renjun looked surprised that Donghyuck almost felt offended. “What? I didn’t think you’d actually have the guts to do it.”

“Well I did and now I want to die.” Donghyuck says, his voice muffled as he drops face down onto the pillow. “Or you know what, just go ahead and kill me Renjun.” 

“W- What?! Are you crazy? Why the hell would I kill you?” Renjun stammered as he pulled Donghyuck out of the comfort of his bed, dragging him to the couch to have a talk. “Listen here, as much as it would be my pleasure,” Donghyuck lets out an angry snort, “the worst case scenario is that he rejects you and revokes your best friend card.”

Donghyuck gapes, his jaw dropped to the floor and stares at Renjun through his lashes , “And what’s the best case scenario?”

“That would be if he doesn’t realize it was a confession because he’s either a dense fucker or because he doesn’t know tiktok trends which leads him to confusion and conclude that you were either drunk or high instead.” Renjun says after giving it a thought, “Knowing Mark, it’s probably both so I think you’re good.”

_+1_

Donghyuck hates to admit it, but Renjun was right. _Gosh, he hates that so much_ . Mark was- _is_ such a dense fucker. 

It took Renjun, Jeno, and even Jaemin to get him to pick up his phone that day. There was a mixture of a supportive Jeno, an asshole Renjun, and a perplexed but reassuring Jaemin and Donghyuck ended up just cursing all of them and finally swallowed his pride to check his damn phone.  
  


**mark**

hyuck? are u drunk? goodluck on your finals today btw

He ignored the message and got up from his position, half of him was glad that Mark didn’t catch on but at the other half wished he did so he can stop worrying about his feelings and just date Mark already (If he actually liked him back)

“So? What did he say?” It was Jaemin who broke the silence, probably wanting to go back to his dorm and sleep, or get coffee.

“Nothing. He said nothing.” Donghyuck answers, and it was enough for his three idiotic friends to wrap him in a group hug. Renjun mumbling something along the lines of Mark not deserving him. His friends were great, really. 

But does _he_ deserve Mark?

* * *

Finals were over. _Finally._ Donghyuck thinks, exiting the classroom. His brain is already ready for spring break. But if you asked him truthfully, his brain is always ready for a break.

He hasn’t talked to Mark throughout the week after the text messages. Prompting that Mark was busy studying and so was he. He couldn’t help but mope, feelings aside, Mark is _still_ his best friend and they always do everything together like an old married couple. If his indirect confession already led to this mess, then what if he confesses for real? What would happen then?

He’s too scared to think about it.

Donghyuck slaps his cheeks lightly, waking himself up from his thoughts that are starting to eat him away. It was never good to overthink, but he finds himself doing it over and over again. He stops by a café to get another cup of coffee, needing an extra shot of espresso to try and drown his feelings for Mark away.

He finds Jaemin, surprisingly, body slouched on one of the booths in the corner of the counter, sipping on his very dark iced americano. He took his order from the lady worker and sat across from his friend. 

“Sup dude.”

“Oh hey Duckie.” Jaemin greets back, he looks alive at least. But who knows how much coffee he had to survive his classes. “What brings you to the great Nana today?” 

“Great Nana? Seriously? If you didn’t suffer enough this semester I would dump this coffee on you.” Donghyuck scoffed, “But your lucky coffee is expensive and I’m broke as fuck and I’m also very sad and yes I really need the great Nana’s advice today.” He whined and got out of his seat, sitting next to Jaemin and leaning his body towards him in a dramatic way.

Jaemin just took him in his arms and caressed him in a motherly way. “Is it about Mark again?”

“You’re too loud!” Donghyuck hissed, “and how’d you know?” He whispers, seeing Jaemin roll his eyes.

“Renjun told me.” Ah, of course, Renjun. 

Donghyuck laughs breathlessly. “I’m an idiot, aren’t I?” Maybe it’ll be best for him to just forget about his stupid feelings.

“As much as I want to agree with you, no, you aren’t an idiot.” Jaemin says, patting on Donghyuck’s back to make him sit up straight, placing both his hands on Donghyuck’s shoulders. “You just need a little more push, that’s all.”

“What do you mean? I’m stupid enough to try those tiktok trends on him but all they did was confuse me even more. I don’t even know where we both stand right now.” 

Jaemin took a hold of his hands, lightly gripping them and looked Donghyuck in the eye, “Then you communicate with him.” He placed one of his fingers in front of Donghyuck’s lips before he could protest, “If you don’t want your life to be like a slow burn with only one hold-handing scene kdrama, then go talk to him.”

“Wow, that really makes so much sense! When did you get so wise?” Donghyuck stares at Jaemin as if he’s a god. Deep down, he knew Jaemin was right. Assuming things and his feelings would get his relationship with Mark nowhere. And he also didn’t want his life to be like those sad kdramas he watches. People on tiktok made it look so easy. What a bunch of fakes. He swears to delete the app before it rots his brain.

“Well, I think that would be the caffeine.” Jaemin muses, taking another sip of his coffee. “That and the trauma I got trying to help out with Renjun and Jeno’s relationship.”

* * *

Donghyuck receives a text from Mark. He wanted to ignore it but Jaemin’s wise words pop into his brain and reminds him to stop being stupid. He opened the text message and almost fell out of his bed, relieved that Renjun was out somewhere and was not able to laugh at Donghyuck’s misery.

**mark**

can we talk? i’m picking u up from the campus parking lot

**donghyuck**

yea sure, give me a min

He pockets his phone and rushes through the parking lot, pulling his hoodie up due to the cold outside the dorms. He spots Mark’s car right away and enters the passenger seat. One look at Mark’s face and he already regrets his decision. He looked really tired. Like- mentally tired. His face looked sullen and the bags under his eyes looked like it could carry one week’s worth of groceries.

“...are you alright?” He asks carefully while Mark drives in silence, and he hates this so much. A loud mouth Donghyuck and awkward silences are just not a compatible pair because that’s so _awkward._ After this is over, Mark definitely owes him ice cream. “Not gonna lie but I’m not really a fan of this atmosphere right now haha.”

Mark snorts. That’s a start. “Sorry, I just wanted to focus on driving. Also, this is my post-finals week-face.” He should’ve known Mark was such a rule follower. “And yes, I’m alright, sorry if I worried you.” 

“What did you want to talk about? Donghyuck asks when Mark pulls over, realizing they’re at the river bank a couple minutes away from campus. He suddenly feels alarmed, having been familiar with this type of scene once or twice in movies. Maybe Mark was going to get back at him because of what happened earlier in the morning. “Oh god, you’re going to kill me and throw my body in the river over text messages?! At least give me a chance to explain-” 

“Pardon? Hyuck what the fuck, what makes you think that?!” Mark squeaks, eyes widening when Donghyuck thrashes on his seat. “You watch way too many thriller movies.” He continues, trying to calm Donghyuck down while he wishes Mark actually murders him to escape the embarrassment he’s experiencing at the moment. Why is he such an idiot?

“I was just playing with you.” Donghyuck says, trying to play it off and Mark raises one of his eyebrows. 

“Right. But _anyway,_ that’s not why we’re here.” Mark says, opening the door and slowly exiting his car, he peeks his head inside before Donghyuck could do the same. “And please don’t think about murder again.”

“No promises.” Donghyuck rolls his eyes and dragged his feet to where Mark was, if his friends knew about this they would never let him live it down.

Mark sits down on the grassy area near the water, patting at the spot next to him as if to signal Donghyuck to do the same. Donghyuck stares at pretty lights from the carnival that’s blocks away. He wonders why Mark seemed so serious. He thinks this was the perfect timing for him to talk to the older boy but before he could say a word, Mark cut him off his thoughts.

“Do you remember what you told me back in high school, before I graduated?” Mark asked, now staring at Donghyuck. It was dark but Donghyuck could see that he was smiling and it was sending butterflies to his stomach.

“To be honest? Not really.” Donghyuck answers, wanting to have high school Donghyuck’s brain because he feels like an asshole not remembering possibly important things because he has a brain of a goldfish. “It’s not something bad is it?”

Mark chuckles and shakes his head. “I’m not surprised. And I say that in a non offensive way.” Donghyuck stares down at his fiddling fingers, something he tends to do when he feels nervous. “You said that if ever comes a time where our friendship is falling apart, that I come and drag you and talk it out.” 

“Huh.” Donghyuck mouths blankly. He wonders what happened to high school Donghyuck that was a genius and definitely not an idiot (answer: college happened). He could not believe he forgot about that. Now Donghyuck wants to get up and jump down the river and let the calm waves send him far away. But wait-

“Wait a second, you think our friendship is falling apart? That’s why we’re here?” Donghyuck asked, incredulous, the gears in his brain started to go haywire and think of all the possible ways he hurt Mark for the older boy to drag his ass out here.

Mark’s face turned red and he started fidgeting in place. “W-well, I thought you were mad at me since you basically wiped your existence on earth the whole week after you drunkenly sent me messages.” Ah, idiot Donghyuck strikes again. 

“Hey! I’m not the only one to blame here, you didn’t reach out to me either. And I wasn’t drunk!” Donghyuck says in defense.

“Oh, then uh, I’m sorry. For assuming.” Mark mumbles and Donghyuck kind of feels bad for him. It’s not like Mark did anything wrong, if anyone’s to blame, it's him and him alone. Maybe he should’ve listened to Renjun. Or maybe he should’ve never gotten addicted to tiktok. And he’s such a jerk to want to kiss Mark even in this situation. Think with your brain dumb hyuck!

Donghyuck positioned his body towards Mark, “No, if anything, I’m the one who should be sorry.” Mark adjusted himself and Donghyuck took his hands. “I’m sorry if I’ve been acting weird- and before you say anything- I mean weirder than usual.” He says when Mark opened his mouth and only to close it again with a snort.

“Hyuck...we’re good, right?” Mark asked and Donghyuck suddenly thought he gave Jaemin too much credit. He wasn’t wrong about ‘communicating with Mark’, but he totally forgot to mention _what_ they’re supposed to communicate about. Donghyuck hates his feelings and fuck Mark for being oblivious. Mark’s really lucky he’s cute and sweet and gentle-

“Hyuck…?” Mark snaps him out of his thoughts, he really needs to stop zoning out.

“Oh yeah, we’re good.” Donghyuck says, reassuring Mark by looking at him in the eyes. “Really.” He melts when Mark smiles, especially that it’s directed to him.

And then it happened in a slow motion, as if he and Mark and this moment were the only things that mattered. Mark slowly removed one of his hand that were held by Donghyuck, brushing the hair out of Donghyuck’s eyes and cupped the right side of his cheeks, thumb caressing his moles and he’s looking at Donghyuck as if he’s the most precious thing he’s ever seen. (It seemed like Mark really brought him here to murder him- in another way)

Donghyuck didn’t expect it. Not at all when Mark leaned a little closer and suddenly his lips were against Donghyuck that he stopped breathing and his eyes widened before closing them. A little taken aback by the usually-awkward-Mark’s confidence. His kisses were shy but not hesitant, it made Donghyuck’s body tingle but it wasn’t uncomfortable. He gasps a little due to the lack of air and Mark slowly slips his tongue inside his mouth, Donghyuck feels a little light-headed, the butterflies in his stomach fluttering endlessly and it makes his knees weak even though they were sitting down. It was good and perfect. It felt right.

Mark pulls away to Donghyuck’s dismay, lips chasing him and opening his eyes to see the other boy’s disheveled state. He didn’t even notice when he had his hands on Mark’s head and his fingers tangled in his hair. In fact, he’s unable to register anything besides Mark and his soft lips. It feels like a dream. 

Donghyuck’s thoughts are up in the clouds, he thinks Mark’s saying something but he couldn’t hear a word. His whole body buzzing from the shock of the kiss and he feels the heat creep up on his cheeks. He dazedly looks at Mark, trying to focus and get the ringing noise out of his ears.  
  
“What did you say?” He mumbles.

“I said, how’s that for a tiktok trend?” 

Everything freezes and Donghyuck blinks a couple times. Mind no longer clouded and there’s a huge red alarm blaring in his brain. _The what now?_

“Excuse me?” Donghyuck says, horrified.

“I said-”

“I heard you the first time. What I meant is-” Donghyuck inhales, “How the fuck do you know about that?” Donghyuck is fucked for sure. This is it. He contemplates actually jumping in the river now. He really does.

Mark let out a toothy grin. “You tried it on me three times. I think it’s fair for me to do one on you too.” Donghyuck internally screams. He wishes for the ground to swallow him whole, or a random hoodlum to tackle him and make him lose consciousness for a day or two, just enough for him to forget about everything that has happened the past week and today. Especially today.

Donghyuck decides to groan and cover his face with his hands, peeking through his fingers when Mark laughs at his mental breakdown. “Just so you know, I didn’t try them to make fun of you. So if you pulled that shit on me I swear-”

“Who said I was making fun of you?” Mark cuts him off, the way he stares at Donghyuck makes his lower lip quiver. He still feels like he’s in a dream. There was no way that Mark Lee likes him. _Absolutely_ no way-

“I like you Donghyuck.” Mark squeaked, his confident facade gone and back with him is the awkward Mark he knows (and loves) “And before you can say anything- I mean more than friends. Hell, more than best friends. I _really_ like you. Longer than you think I do”

Donghyuck stands up and pats the dirt off his pants. He smiled down at Mark who was following his every move and held out his hand. “Well, good news Mark Lee. I really like you too.”

Mark takes his hands and interlocked it with his. He leans down and gives Mark’s lips a soft peck and he giggles. Renjun can finally stop making fun of him because he’s no longer a single man. And he can finally stop rubbing his relationship with Jeno in Donghyuck’s face.

“It was Renjun, by the way.” Mark trails off, “Who told me about the tiktok trends.” 

“Of course it was Renjun, I’m really not surprised anymore.” For once, he thanks his roommate’s loud mouth.

He looks at Mark who was staring at him fondly and there goes the butterflies again. It felt nice. Like a huge burden lifted off his shoulder. He grips Mark’s hand tighter and chuckles to himself.

“So, what are we Mark Lee? Where do we stand? Still best friends?” Donghyuck teases and Mark rolls his eyes at him.

“No actually, I think we should be lovers instead, Donghyuck Lee.”

_3 + 1 (bonus)_

Donghyuck thinks he has an addiction. A Mark Lee addiction. And he spends everyday making sure everyone knows about it. _Everyone._

“That’s my boyfriend right there you bitches better back the fuck up!” Donghyuck yells through his megaphone after noticing a bunch of cheerleaders (where did they come from) surround Mark before practice was almost over. He nodded to himself as the flock around his boyfriend dispersed and sent a flying kiss to Mark who pretended to catch it and placed it on his chest. 

He sits down satisfied and hears Renjun sigh for the nth time since they came in. “I swear, you guys are way worse than me and Jeno.” His roommate groans. Donghyuck can’t blame him though, when he and Mark went home after they got together, Donghyuck didn’t hesitate to call over his friends and spilled the beans.

“I’m just glad we don’t have to see him mope around anymore.” Jaemin comments, getting comfortable on his seat, readying himself to take a nap. 

“A part of me regrets wishing you and Mark get together. But a part of me is very happy for you. And I mean that in an utmost sincerity.” Renjun says and Donghyuck put a palm over his hand, his face in awe.

“Wow that means a lot Renjun.” 

“Revel in that compliment because I’m not going to say it again.” Renjun scoffs but Donghyuck pulls him into a hug. He knew how much of a tsundere his roommate is and he’s actually really thankful for him despite Renjun kicking his ass all the time.

“Should I be threatened being replaced or?” Donghyuck hears Mark’s voice and pushed Renjun away who stumbled into Jeno’s arms (luckily) he growls a ‘fuck you’ to Donghyuck before letting himself be comforted by Jeno.

“I liked you for 3 years. I’m not going anywhere.” He attached himself to Mark like a koala, he was in different clothes now, and he smells like fabric softener. 

An awakened Jaemin (who got a five minute nap) coughs behind them. “Are you sure you want to be stuck with him Mark?” Donghyuck glares at him, and glares at Mark who was contemplating his answer and pouts.

“I’m kidding. To answer your question, I’m quite sure Jaemin.”

“You guys are so gross, I’m out.”

Donghyuck only stuck a tongue at Jaemin and let Mark embrace him as they walked towards the exit, ignoring the people staring at them. He doesn’t have to envy people on tiktok anymore, not even Renjun and Jeno. Not when he is now in fact t-a-k-e-n.

**Author's Note:**

> *sweats nervously* d-did u guys like it?
> 
> basically hyuck throughout the fic was,, any slight inconvenience = asking friends to end his life
> 
> i relate to hyuck when it comes to being awkward around my crush and ugh its awful i always wants to combust  
> but he didnt have to worry bc it seemed like mark already liked him back from the start (wink wink)  
> i rlly wanted this to be norenmin but i just decided to make it noren and made jaemin such a sad character akdjsjs IM SO SORRY i swear i’ll treat him better next time 
> 
> for those who arent familiar with tiktok, the trends I used were:  
> (1) telling ur s/o that they havent been very nice to u lately and see how they react  
> (2) stealing food from ur s/o and see how they react (the usual reaction is what mark did, which was to feed hyuck)  
> (3) texting the lyrics of jenny(i wanna ruin our friendship) song to ur best friend that ur in love with (usually)  
> (+1) suddenly kissing your best friend out of nowhere
> 
> i hope you guys enjoyed this? its unedit and edited at the same time bc i mightve missed something but i read this so many times already over the course of writing it (i had it in my drafts for 2 weeks and was constantly trying to finish it little by little) so i think im going to let u guys read it now hahaha
> 
> i will be writing more markhyuck in the future so uh yeah bc i will go down with this ship :D
> 
> i dont rlly like twitter so if u wanna ask me anything or just wanna know my socials,  
> here is my tumblr: [@mrkhycklee](https://mrkhycklee.tumblr.com/)
> 
> and i wanna mention that since nct 2020 is going to be over (at least, from where i live) i just wanna talk about how proud i am of the boys and they truly made 2020 a lil bit better despite everything that is happening. I hope Jisung and Taeyong will be okay soon and rest properly bc ugh sme is shit and all they do is make us hate them even more.
> 
> also, since we're still currently in a pandemic, dont forget to drink water, wear masks when u go outside and take care of yourselves!!
> 
> comments and kudos r very much appreciated °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°


End file.
